Fishing Accident Victim Recovering from Traumatic Brain Injury

Jamie Hilton, 36, was injured this summer on a fishing trip in Hell’s Canyon, Idaho after she fell 12 feet and hit her head, according to the Huffington Post. Hilton, a former Mrs. Idaho, had to have an emergency surgery in which doctors removed 25 percent of her skull, storing it under her abdomen until her brain was able to heal.

“You know, I don’t remember much,” Hilton said on the TODAY show. “I remember he cast the line and handed me the pole. I remember the fish on the line and pulling back and that’s it. I don’t remember falling. I don’t remember landing.”

Hilton is slowly recovering, but the process is long and difficult.

“The surgery that Jamie had is called a hemicraniectomy,” said Dr. Ted Schwartz, a neurology professor at New York Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center. “When there is severe trauma to the brain, the brain swells and the skull is a closed cavity. So when that swelling occurs, the pressure goes up inside the head and it can be dangerous.”

Latti & Anderson LLP has represented both fisherman and merchant seaman who have sustained brain injuries due to equipment failing, lack of safety protection and rails and from electrocution. Over the years, Latti & Anderson LLP has obtained millions of dollars for our clients with brain injuries. Please contact our firm today for a free consultation if you or a loved one has been injured.